The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing particles from fluid and more particularly to a cyclonic apparatus which maximizes the amount of particulate matter which can be removed from a carrier fluid while minimizing the amount of internal wear, which operates at a normal internal pressure significantly below that of conventional separating devices while producing little or no pressure drop in fluid transmitted therethrough, which can be manufactured at a cost far below that heretofore possible with prior art separating devices, and which can be produced in a form permitting ready adjustment for control of the size and quantity of particulate matter removed from a given carrier fluid.
Cyclonic or vortexing separators have long been popular for the separation of particulate matter from carrier fluids. Those invented by the applicant and comprising the subject matter of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,289,608; 3,512,651; 3,568,837; and 3,701,425 are in many respects typical of successful cyclonic separators. Other separators of interest are those of the Bishop U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,698; the Fowle et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,237,767; the Brown et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,237,777; the Stavenger U.S. Pat. No. 3,259,246; the Feasel U.S. Pat. No. 3,499,531; the Maciula et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,724; the Fournier U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,885; the Troland U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,655; the Maciula et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,385; and the Maciula U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,009. However, the technology embodied in such prior art devices is imperfect in several important respects, to which reference will subsequently be made. It will also become evident that the apparatus of the present invention has achieved significant technological advances in dealing with certain deficiencies of the prior art.
As evidenced by the above patents, the prior art is replete with a variety of cyclonic separating devices. All of the devices with which the applicant is familiar, however, employ an internal configuration which includes a cone structure and/or a sleeve having a plurality of tangentially disposed fluid openings. Such internal structures are employed to produce a centrifuging fluid vortex in fluid transmitted therethrough which operates to separate particulate matter from the carrier fluid. These internal structures suffer from the common deficiency of producing a significant fluid pressure drop in fluid transmitted therethrough.
In the case of separating devices employing an internal cone structure, the fluid vortex is commonly directed into the cone in helically converging relation to increase the speed of fluid flow and thereby the centrifuging action to remove particulate matter. Such devices commonly suffer from several important deficiencies. First, the cost of such devices is greater than desired due to the difficulty in manufacturing such a conical structure. Second, such devices are expensive to maintain in that the convergence of the side walls of the cone, produces quite rapid wearing of the internal surfaces of the cone structure as a result of the abrading action of the particulate matter centrifically thrown thereagainst. This requires frequent repair or replacement of the cone structure. Third, such devices frequently produce extremely high internal pressures as a result of this centrifuging action which makes compliance with the highest safety code standards for high pressure devices difficult.
Separating devices which utilize a sleeve having a plurality of tangential fluid inlets are subject to other imperfections which detract from their operational attributes. In the case of this type of separating device, the plurality of tangential inlet openings are bounded by edges which are subject to abrasion by particulate matter passing with the fluid therethrough. This abrasion cause relatively rapid wearing of the edges which necessitates that such edges be coated with a protective surface at relatively frequent intervals or simply that the sleeve be replaced at such intervals. This is, of course, costly and detracts from the overall utility of the devices in that considerable down time is required for such maintenance. Furthermore, the manufacture of a sleeve with a plurality of tangential openings involves considerable expense.
Therefore, it has long been recognized that it would be desirable to have an apparatus for removing particles from fluid which operates efficiently to remove particulate matter from a carrier fluid while producing little or no pressure drop in fluid transmitted therethrough and which can be manufactured at a cost heretofore unattainable in prior art cyclonic separating devices while at the same time providing an apparatus which requires little or no maintenance of the type required by conventional such separators.